NEWS
Provide more flexible working and training for multiple roles , say researchers into health and social care staff during COVID
The first round of research into the impact of COVID-19 on health and social care staff is recommending that employers need to operate more flexibly .
The COVID-19 Health and Social Care Workforce Study , run by staff from Northern Irish and England universities , looked at the impact on nurses , midwives , AHPs , social care workers and social workers from the 7 May to 3 July , and received 3,290 responses .
Many respondents reported fears of contracting the virus , with some purchasing their own personal protective equipment . Work routines faced widespread upheaval , with 17 per cent of AHPs redeployed , and with many more weighing up the pros and cons of working at home . And many faced increases in service demand at the same time as handling reduced staffing levels .
Staff reported that employers and managers who recognised their employees ’ work under difficult circumstances helped to mitigate the negative impacts of changes to working life , with an ‘ us and them ’ feeling between frontline staff and management if that did not happen . Regular and timely communication from management and senior leadership was also welcomed if it provided more clarity on how changes needed to be carried out . The report ’ s authors made 15 recommendations , including that :
• employers offer increased flexibility around working hours and locations as well as more recognition of childcare and care responsibilities during the pandemic ;
• training and development to equip staff with the ability to perform multiple or new roles should they be commissioned or rolled out ;
• frequent and regular communication from managers and tailored to the needs of services , teams and individuals ;
• that employers hold responsibility for ensuring employees are provided with up-to-date guidelines rather than relying on staff to do that themselves .
The authors are carrying out further surveys this winter and in May
2021 . Read the first report at : www . bit . do / COVID-staff-impact , and contribute to the second survey at : www . bit . do / COVID-survey .
New initiatives to broaden BAME access to postgraduate research and representation in trials
Two new initiatives are looking to broaden access to postgraduate research and representation in research trials of people from Black , Asian and minority ethnic ( BAME ) backgrounds . The Office for Students ( OfS ) and Research England have launched a new £ 8 million funding competition to improve access to and participation in postgraduate research study by students from BAME backgrounds .
New data published by the OfS has found that participation of students from BAME backgrounds in postgraduate research study remains low .
Chris Millward , director for fair access and participation at the OfS , said : ‘ Although Black , Asian and minority ethnic students have high levels of participation in undergraduate education , they are less likely to secure the top degree grades and go on to postgraduate research . The data published today shows the pressing need to address this , especially in the face of the additional challenges created by the pandemic .
‘ I want to encourage applicants to be ambitious in proposing innovative approaches to unlocking talent and research potential from all parts of society .’
The deadline for applications is 28 January 2021 , with more information at : www . bit . do / OfS-fund .
Separately , the INCLUDE ethnicity framework has been launched by the National Institute of Health Research to improve trial delivery for under-served groups .
The INCLUDE ethnicity framework aims to help trial teams think carefully about which ethnic groups should be included in their trial for its results to be widely applicable , and what challenges there may be to making this possible . Having identified potential challenges , the trial team can then consider ways to reduce those challenges . Its authors say that the framework is best used at the trial design stage , before funding is in place .
Find the framework at : www . trialforge . org / trial-forge-centre / include .
Have you experienced psychosis or other mental health problems ?
Do you care for someone with mental health problems ?
Could real-life reCovery stories help you ?
Join a
NeoN
Trial
Find out more at recoverystories . uk
N202 NEON is funded by the NIHR ( RP-PG-0615-20016 ). This study has been given favourable opinion by Leicester Central REC , and has been approved by the HRA . The study sponsor is Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust . File : All NEON trials . Poster EW . v2 20.12.19 .
OTnews December 2020 13